An expert public

Moderator: Monique Tairraz, Communications Consultant, Canada

1. The Commons on Flickr: What Do 51 Million Community Members Actually Do?
Erik Hekman, Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands

In January 2008 the online photo-hosting site Flickr introduced a new section entitled The Commons. Its two key goals were to show the hidden treasures in the world’s public photography archives to the general public and to give Flickr community members the opportunity to contribute and describe these photos in order to enrich these collections. Surprisingly enough, little empirical research has been done on the actual usage of The Commons by the institutes and Flickr members. In our research we harvested a rich data sample over a 14-week period: 196,822 photos with user-generated content of 1.3 million tags, almost 130,000 comments and more than 22,000 notes. In total, 165,401 members from 188 different countries actively “did something” with the photos. This presentation will analyze this large data sample. In addition to the quantitative findings, we will discuss the qualitative findings regarding the content analysis of tags and comments. (presentation in English)

2. Which tools for expert audiences?
Gonzague Gauthier, Centre Pompidou, France

The French cultural domain is being shaped by formative debates on cultural mediation and democratization. At a time when the country’s economy is in a state of total transformation, the emergence of digital tools and Web cultures and practices allows us to finally tackle these issues with innovative solutions based on a public reappropriation of content. But at what price? From the perspective of a large multidisciplinary institute like the Centre Pompidou—but without neglecting the diversity of structures elsewhere in France—this presentation will attempt to provide an overview of the needs and pressures that digital technology bring to the cultural industry. The question of the public’s active reception of information will also be touched on: what decentralisation of exchanges and power linked to knowledge is required? What models of collaborative creation, and for what purposes? (presentation in French)

3. God(s): A User’s Guide 2.0
Jean-François Léger, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Canada

The exhibition God(s): A User’s Guide, presented at the Canadian Museum of Civilization until December 2012, depicts the diversity and singularity of contemporary religious practices. “According to your beliefs, what will happen to you after you die?” was the question put to young and old, believers and non-believers, practising and non-practising followers. The responses were collected in text or video form at a kiosk inside the exhibition. A wider range of questions was also posed to website visitors, whose answers were then posted on the Internet. The answers, as diverse as the visitors’ beliefs, were surprising in terms of both number and candour. This presentation will describe the process that led to the choice of questions and the manner in which they were put to visitors in the exhibition gallery, and compare its success with that of the questions asked on the website. In addition, with regard to these answers and their archiving, the notion of intangible heritage will be broached. (presentation in French)